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Currency
The Dong (D) is the official currency in Vietnam.
Exchange rate is approximatley 1 USD = 15,000
Dong (Sep 01)
Bank notes currently in circulation are in denominations
of 100 / 200 / 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 / 5,000 / 10,000
/ 20,000 and 50,000 Dong
Notes under 200 Dong have little value and are
rarely used.
The U.S. dollar is more or less a second currency
in Vietnam. Other foreign currencies are not readily
accepted. A large supply of US$1, US$5 and US$10
are almost essential for tipping, for small expenses
and for hotel bills. U.S. money is so common that
change will frequently be given in dollars.
You may bring in an unlimited amount of foreign
currency as long as it is declared on the forms
provided by customs officers. Foreign currency
can be exchanged for dong at your hotel or at
the State Bank of Vietnam.
Language
 The
Vietnamese language belongs to a language group
which was established a long time ago in East
Asia. Changes in material conditions over many
centuries and the increasing demands of cultural
life have influenced the Vietnamese language.
While adopting many elements of the Chinese language,
the Vietnamese people changed many Chinese words,
gradually creating Han-Viet (Chinese-Vietnamese)
which incorporated purely Vietnamese words. "Vietnamization"
not only applied to the Chinese language, but
also to French and other language groups, creating
a diverse vocabulary for the Vietnamese language
Written
 When
the multi-ethnic Vietnamese nation was taking
shape, a great monarchy was established in the
North, and it began a southward expansion. The
Vietnamese nation underwent thousands of years
of Northern domination. This was why Chinese was
used for a long time as the official written language.
Local mandarins of various levels were allowed
to sit for examinations in the Northern Court
(China), and were recruited into the administrative
machinery of foreign invaders.Based on Chinese
characters, the Vietnamese worked out a unique
writing system of their own called Chu Nom. In
Chu Nom, two Chinese characters were usually combined,
one of which indicated the meaning of the Vietnamese
word, while the other indicated pronunciation.
Chu Nom was welcomed and widely used by the masses
in their daily life, as well as in transcribing
their national history and literature.
According to researchers, Chu Nom probably originated
around the end of the Northern domination period
and early in the 10th century (the independence
period). The oldest evidence of Chu Nom currently
available is a stele in the Bao An Pagoda in Yen
Lang, Vinh Phu province, dating back to 1209 AD
(Ly Dynasty). It was not until the 13th century
under the Tarn dynasty that Chu Nom was systematized
and used in literature. Nguyen Thuyen (alias Han
Thuyen) and Nguyen Si Co wrote poems in Chu Nom.
Ho Quy Ly (1400 AD) made Chinese textbooks which
translated the Vietnamese language using the Chu
Nom writing system. He also used Chu Nom to write
royal proclamations and ordinances. In the 15th
century, Nguyen Trai, a national hero, used Chu
Nom to write 250 poems in Quoc Am Thi Tap (Collection
of Poems in the National Language). The Chu Nom
literature continued to be developed from the
16th century onwards and totally dominated national
literary circles.
Ba Huyen Thanh Quan (the wife of the Chief of
Thanh Quan district), Cao Ba Quat and Kieu Story
of Nguyen Du, and the translation of Chinh Phu
Ngam (Lament of a Wife Whose Husband has Gone
to War) by Doan Thi Diem were quite noteworthy
poems.In conjunction with the development of the
nation, the Vietnamese language was constantly
developed and improved. Around the 17th century,
western missionaries came to Vietnam and learned
Vietnamese in order to disseminate Catholicism.
They developed a romanced script to represent
the Quoc Ngu (meaning national language) in order
to translate prayer books and catechisms. A number
of Portuguese and Italian missionaries used Quoc
Ngu to compile catechisms and Portuguese-Vietnamese
and Vietnamese-Portuguese dictionaries. Based
on these works, Alexandre de Rhodes, a French
Jesuit missionary, published the Vietnamese Portuguese-Latin
dictionary which was a fundamental catechism in
Rome from 1649-1651. After Alexandre de Rhodes,
Quoc Ngu was further improved by foreign missionaries
and Vietnamese scholars.
In 1867, some colonial schools began to teach
Quoc Ngu. It was not until early in the 20th century
that Quoc Ngu became widely used in the local
primary educational system. The introduction of
Quoc Ngu constituted a new step in the development
of the Vietnamese language. While romanization
received a reserved welcome in other Asian countries,
it recorded extraordinary success in Vietnam,
creating favorable conditions for cultural and
intellectual development. |
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